When he started out as a recruiter in 1997, he focused on hunting background information on companies and candidates. Today, tools such as Google and LinkedIn cut down on that.

“Then, you used influence to get information, and I think now we’re in a position where there’s so much good information out there, we focus on using our influence to really effect good outcomes," he said.

Required: more skills

Recruiters now cater to increasingly specific job descriptions, which are sometimes so complex that Krumm refers to filling them as “fitting hexagonal pegs into hexagonal holes.”

Not only has there been an increase in programming languages and technologies, but as companies take a more holistic approach to their technological offerings — focusing on user experience, for example — the skills they demand change as well.

Evolving job descriptions mean programmers, like many other types of employees, can no longer blast resumes and generic cover letters, said Maria Dubov, founder of recruiting firm MMD Services Inc.

Instead, she recommends narrowing applications to only the most relevant jobs and reaching out directly to hiring managers through channels such as LinkedIn.

Krumm said learning the new landscape must begin before a job hunt does.

“Take a call from a recruiter every now and then, even if you’re not looking,” Krumm said. This alerts potential job seekers to future opportunities and builds rapport with a recruiter who may be able to help down the line.

Plus, it gives the recruiter a chance to get to know the person better and learn about hobbies, for example, that might be worth highlighting in a cover letter.

A preference for contract work

Many more companies use short-term employees to apply tailored skills to specific projects, which can also benefit workers who like to build but aren’t interested in staying on to maintain a system once it’s up and running.

"They really enjoy the implementation part, the puzzle part, the let’s figure out how to implement this and use it,” Krumm said. "Not a lot of people love that maintenance mode piece."

It is also good for employers who don't need to pay expensive, highly skilled workers for day-to-day upkeep. "It’s a lot easier to say, ‘Let’s bring this position on-site as a contractor,’” Dubov said.

Must add business value

For full-time roles, employers are looking for coders who can do more than code, said Dubov.

“If that person can’t brainstorm with other people,” Dubov said, “they’re not adding to the overall intelligence of the company.”

MMD Services is a six-person company that started out seeking hard-to-find job candidates. Now, with the explosion of startups, particularly those in e-commerce, Dubov sees high demand for Web developers, user interface designers, business-intelligence experts and open-source developers specialized in PHP or Ruby on Rails.

But Dubov said many employers require a combination of technical know-how and advanced thinking that was not expected of IT professionals in the past.

Even large companies such as Newell Rubbermaid, an MMD client for which technical functions are not a central business concern, see these double-threat IT professionals as a growing priority.

"Because of the direct relationship of IT to the business and companies starting to value technology even more, IT is becoming a little bit more important to them, too."